Slat-weaving machine



(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 1.

v I. A. KERR.

SLAT WEAVING MACHINE. N0. 354,707. Patented 1360.21; 1886.

N PETERS. Pinko-Lithographer. Washington. 116.

(No Model.) 4 -Sheets- Sheet 2.

1. A. KERR.

SLAT- WEAVING MACHINE.

No. 354,707. Patented D66. 21, 1886.

Qwim wooco v (No Model.)

- 4*.Sheets-Sheet 3. I. A. KERR.

SLAT WEAVING MACHINE.

No. 354,707. Patented Dec. 21, 1886.

ami I 14 as 3. 13 A; GttOcHQlJ-MM u PETERS. Pholo-l lhagnphur, Washington. 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ISAAC A. KERR, or MUSOATINE, IOWA.

SLAT-WEAVI Ne MACH NE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,707, dated December 21, 1886.

Application filed September 20, 1886. Serial No.214,066. (No modeld To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC A. KERR, acitizen of the United States of America, residing at Muscatine, in the county of Muscatine and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Slat-\Veaving Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to an improved ma chine for weaving slats and wires into webs adapted especially to form the sides of barrels, kegs, hogsheads, crates, and other wooden vessels and receptacles; and the invention consists of the construction and combinations of the parts of the machineas hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a eross section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation. Fig. 5 is a back elevation. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 2 2 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a perspective of the lay, reeds, and connecting-bars detached from the machine. Fig. 8 is a perspective of the supporting-bars of the machine-bed detached from the machine.

A designates the machine-frame, constructed of bars of any suitable size and material, preferably of metal, jointed together in the usual manner. I

The machine may be constructed with a curved bed, or with a plane flat bed, for different purposes, as hereinafter fully explained.

B designates a bed having its upper surface curved both longitudinally and transversely. This bed having the double-curved surface is designed for weaving slats and wires into webs adapted to form the sides of bulged barrels, &c. having between the slats ventilating-openings, enlarged from the'ends to the middle of such barrels, as set forth in my application,

a; which are attached to the frame. The lay is actuatedby means of the arms c rt, mounted on the rock-shaft a having its bearings in upright bars of the frame. The upper ends of the'arms (t are pivoted to the connecting-bars a, which are pivoted to lugs attached to or formed on the lay-bars a. The outer ends of the arms a are pivoted to the upper ends of the connecting-bars a, the lower ends of which bars are pivoted to lugs a attached to the cam-yoke a". This yoke is reciprocated vertically in suitable guides by means of the cams b b on the shafts I), mounted in bearings attached to the machine-frame. These cams are rotated by means of a spur-wheel, B, mounted upon-the driving-shaft b placed in bearings attached to the machine-frame, which spurwheel gears with the pinions B mounted on the cam-shafts b.

D D designate two sets of heddle-bars provided with eyes to receive the warp-wires b which are extended through the eyes in the bars. The lower ends of these bars are at- 7 tached to horizontal bars of the cam-yokes 12* b These heddle-bars are reciprocated vertically in reverse directions by means of the cams c c placed within the yokes on the shafts c 0 journaled in bearings attached to the machine-frame. It will be observed that the cams c c are placed in reverse positions upon their shafts, so that the cams c in the yoke 11* v extend upward when the cams c in the yoke 12 extend downward, which arrangement of 85 these cams is for the purpose of imparting the reverse movements to the heddle-bars, for decussating the warp-wires. These shafts and cams are driven by means of a central wheel, 0 mounted on the driving-shaft and gearing with the wheels a", mounted on the camshafts c".

F F designate spring presser-bars, secured at their rear ends to the cross-bar F and are extended over the top of the loed in position to press upon and hold in place the wires 11 and the slats d as they are being woven together. The pressure of these presser-loars may be regulated by anysuitable tension devices. For the presentI employ for this purpose tension-screws d, placed in threaded bearings through a bar, B attached to the machine-frame. The lower ends of these tension-screws impinge upon the presser-bars.

ICC

The machine-bed is provided with support-' ing-bars d one of which is placed immediatelyunder each run of the wires and under each presser-bar, as shown. It will be noticed 5 that the presser-bars F at each side of the machine-bed are double the width of the interior resser-bars. These wide bars are so made for extending over the double rows of wires, which in some cases may be woven near the ends of the slats. In this case the machine is provided with double sets of heddlebars, and the lay is provided with double, reeds opposite the widepresser-bars, as shown at h in Figs. 2 and 7,0f the drawings.

The front end of each of the presser-bars and of the support-barsd are beveled inwardly, as shown at d in Fig. 6, to facilitate the feeding of the slats between the bars and to aid in shaping the loops of the wires around the slats.

This machine is adapted for weaving slats and wires into webs for any purpose for which such webs may be used. To completely prepare such webs, however, for particular pur- 5 trimmed,but also otherwise prepared for that purpose. For example, in weaving webs to be used for window-shades, the slats should be trimmed to the required length, and the requisite grooves should be out, near the ends of the slats, to receive the tapes or ribbons 'used for adjusting the shades; and in weaving webs for the construction of headed barrels, &c., the ends of the slats should be trimmed, chined, and crozed. This may be accomplished by suitable devices combined with trimmers, as shown at G in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Such devices may be driven by a band extended over a pulley on a shaft rotated by the gear-wheels h",h and over a pulley on the shaft carrying the trimming devices, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

H designates bars attached to the front portion of the machine-bed, and H H are bars attached to and reciprocated with the lay. These bars form the rests for the slats as they are fed into the sheds of the wire-warp, in po sition to be pressed under the presser-bars. The bars Haid in feeding the slats to the ma chine, and also serve as auxiliary guides to the lay.

The curved bed of the machineis constructed so as to be adj ustable for varyingits curvature, to increase or lessen the size of the ventilatingopenings between the slats, it being evident that the greater the degree of curvature of the bed the wider will be the openings between the slats, and vice versa.

Any suitable devices may be employed for thus adjusting the bed. At present, for this purpose, I fasten the ends of the support-bars d to thin curved bars d, and I support these curved bars upon set-screws d having threaded bearings in cross-beams attached to the machine-frame. Recesses are formed in the frame, as shown by dottedlines at d in poses, the ends of the slats should not only be i Fig. 5 of the drawings, to allow the free ends of the curved bars the play required in the adjustment of the curvature of the bed.

The operative devices of the machine are actuated by power applied by a belt running over the pulley K, which pulley is mounted cussated by the reverse movement of the two 1 sets of the heddle-bars, forming the sheds to receive the slats, which are inserted through the sheds, one at a time, by hand or by suitable machinery, and each slat thus inserted in place in the sheds is pressed by the lay under the ends of the presser-bars, and during the reciprocation of the lay the heddle-bars reverse their relative positions, decussating again the wires and forming new sheds for the insertion of another slat, and so on till the web is woven the required length.

The width of the spaces between the woven slats of the web is regulated by means of the tension-screws. The greater the tension upon the presser-bars, the closer the slats will be woven together, and vice versa. The tension may be such as to cause the slats to be woven with their edges j oined closely together, which is desirable in weaving webs for nail-kegs and for some other purposes. In weaving the convex webbing for the construction of bulged barrels, &c., the tension on the presser-bars nearest the ends of the slats should be greater than the'tension on the interior presser-bars, for the purpose of weaving the ends of the slats close together and allowing the middle portions of the slats to be spread apart to form between them openings of the required width.

It is evident that the double curved bed of the machine greatly facilitates, if, indeed, such' a curved bed is not essential for,the weaving of such convex webs. The longitudinal curve allows the ends of the slats to be pressed and woven closely together, while the transverse curve of the bed bends and spreads apart the middle portions of the slats.

It will be seen that the spur-wheel B is twice yoke a produces, by means of the connecting devices, one complete reciprocation of the lay while each set of the heddle-bars moves in one direction only. These relative movements of these devices are essential for the proper operation of my improved machine.

The ends of the woven slats being trimmed and properly prepared for the required uses while passing through the machine, as heretofore described, the webs are ready to be used with great facility in the construction of window-shades, barrels, kegs, and the other structures for which the webbing is designed and has been prepared.

WhatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with the bed, the heddle-bars, and the lay of a slat-weaving machine, of spring presser-bars, extended over the bed in position to compress separately each run of the warp andto hold in place the slats while they are being woven together, and means for regulating the tension of the bars upon the warp and slats, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A slat-weaving machine provided with a bed having its upper surface curved longitudinally and transversely,whereby the machine is adapted for weaving curved webbing, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. In a slat weaving machine, the combina- 'heddle-bars and the lay have imparted to them the relative movements substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. The combination, with the weaving devices of a slat-weaving machine, as herein set forth, of devices adapted to trim and prepare, for the purposes designed, theends-of the slats, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC A. KERR.

Witnesses:

THOMAS P. SIMPsoN, FRANK M. GREEN. 

